Excalibur Club - Blade Longevity DE, SE and Injector

[John Rose]

SOTD Dec 5, 2018
razor: L4 Gillette Slim, set to 6
blade: Personna barber blade (10)
soap: Proraso White croap + Nivea Originals cream
brush: APShaveCo 24 mm SynBad set in Blue Lagoon handle
post: alum block, cold water rinse, Chatillon Lux Pure Lavender

Best one so far for this blade, I think. Near-BBS in two passes (WTG, ATG) and no weepers.

Shave # 6

Razor: Merkur 23C
Blade: Ying Jili
Preshave: Neutrogena Skin clearing Shave cream
Lather: Arko Shave stick
Brush: Boar
Postshave: Pacific Shaving Company Caffeinated aftershave

I decided to revive the first blade I've ever used when I took up DE shaving just 4 months back. At the time I had multiple weepers every time I used the ying Jili blade that came with my Weishi razor. I used it only 5 times before deciding to use a Personna Red blade. After getting the Personna Red to 40 shaves I thought I'd go back and see if my improved skills would give me a better shave now with the Ying Jili blade. It ended up being a great shave. Just one small cut which closed really quick. The blade felt great and I got somewhere between a BBS and DFS shave. It's true, When your skills improve almost any blade will give you a great shave. Let's see how far I can push this blade.

Well, that's an interesting bit of science experiment.
Good luck with the Ying Jili blade.

 

[psfred]

Shave 97 on a Polsliver SI this morning, and I can barely feel stubble at midnight, so I think I'll be getting a few more shaves out of it. 100 for sure, maybe more. At three blades a year the 150 I have should last me as long as I want to shave, I think.....

 

[anemic]

My current GSB has delivered 62 shaves. Today's shave was not quite to standard and I'm not certain why - it could be wearing out. It's a far cry from BBS and not quite DFS (but nearly!). It's a very good SAS, but I'm used to a higher standard.

I'll put this blade on probation. It has led a good life and has gone 10 shave beyond my previous best with any blade (previous mark of 52 shaves was also a GSB). One more shave then I shave with the travel rig for a week (Gillette Travel Tech) which has it's own Astra SP blade in the kit. I was hoping I could go real long with this blade, maybe hitting the century mark. I'll try my luck with the Slim, as inspired here by @John Rose

 

[Runnin_Ute]

Just tossed a GSB after 33 shaves. May have been able to get a few more, but decided against it.

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[MuhleShaver]

Currently on shave #31 with an Astra SP. Definitely lots of life still left in it.

 

[Spock88]

SOTD Dec 5, 2018
razor: L4 Gillette Slim, set to 6
blade: Personna barber blade (10)
soap: Proraso White croap + Nivea Originals cream
brush: APShaveCo 24 mm SynBad set in Blue Lagoon handle
post: alum block, cold water rinse, Chatillon Lux Pure Lavender

Best one so far for this blade, I think. Near-BBS in two passes (WTG, ATG) and no weepers.

Well, that's an interesting bit of science experiment.
Good luck with the Ying Jili blade.

Thanks John. I thought it would be fun to go back and see what it felt like. So far so good with the blade!

 

[Spock88]

Shave # 7

Razor: Merkur 23C
Blade: Ying Jili
Preshave: Neutrogena Skin clearing Shave cream
Lather: Arko Shave stick
Brush: Yaqi Evil Zebra Synthetic
Postshave: Pacific Shaving Company Caffeinated aftershave

Had a great shave with the Ying Jili once again. I was a bit rushed so didn't have my usual time to shave but still ended up with a quality shave. The blade feels better than the last one. Seems to be starting to smooth out quite well but still plenty sharp.

 

[Spock88]

Shave # 8

Razor: Merkur 23C
Blade: Ying Jili
Preshave: Neutrogena Skin clearing Shave cream
Lather: Arko Shave stick
Brush: Yaqi Evil Zebra Synthetic
Postshave: Pacific Shaving Company Caffeinated aftershave

Great Shave once again with the Ying Jili. This was on almost 4.5 days growth as well. It was still quite sharp but also smooth. I would say I ended up with somewhere between a BBS and DFS shave overall. Tried my first Synthetic brush and I must say I love it! Shaving with a DE Setup is definitely becoming easier. Not sure how far the blade will go but so far so good.

 

[Saxonbowman]

Great to see so many milestones here! Keep up the good work!

 

[Spock88]

Shave # 9

Razor: Merkur 23C
Blade: Ying Jili
Preshave: Neutrogena Skin clearing Shave cream
Lather: Arko Shave stick
Brush: Yaqi Evil Zebra Synthetic
Postshave: Pacific Shaving Company Caffeinated aftershave

Good shave but I did feel a bit of a burn in several areas once I was done. It might have been my prep though. I was in a rush so I didn't prep like I usually do. Still, no bleeders or cuts so I am feeling good about that. So far the blade is ok. Let's see how it goes with the next shave.

 

[SAMB08]

Have to say, I am intrigued by getting the maximum use out of a blade. Usually I give it a week at the most, with few exceptions.

However, I’m going to try this so I can improve my technique and see how long I can stretch a blade. Also, I am signed up for the 2019 sabbatical so it will help me use what I have (about 130 few various blades total).

Currently, I am using the following:

Razor: Rockwell 6s R4
Blade: Gillette Super Thin - 7 shaves.
Lather: Tabac stick
Brush: Omega 10065, first time use

My shave this morning was good, no irritation but not a complete BBS. I feel my technique needs to improve around the jaw and neck area.

 

[SAMB08]

Shave number 9 with the Gillette Super Thin. Wasn’t the best shave, had some irritation but can’t tell if it’s the blade or the fact that I used Col. Conk for the first time. Had plenty of lather and was able to get a 3 pass (WTG, XTG,ATG)

I guess that’s the beauty of staying with the same blade, I’m keeping it as a constant while I try again tomorrow.

Razor: Rockwell 6s, R4
Lather: Col. Conk Almond
Brush: Whipped dog high mountain
Post shave: alum block, witch hazel and a splash of Stirling Baker Street.

 

[John Rose]

SOTD Dec 16:
razor - Canadian Long-comb New
blade - Personna barber blade (20)
soap - TOBS Mr. Taylors
brush - Omega 10086 Travel Brush
post - styptic pencil, alum block, cold water rinse
aftershave - a mix of Pinaud Clubman and Brut Classic

I think this blade may have peaked at 10 to 15 shaves, because I've been getting nicks again, hence the styptic pencil. Except for the nicks, it feels fine and the results are a CCS.

About the aftershave ("Frankensplash"?) - I always thought that Brut and Clubman had vaguely similar scents, so I tried using both of them at once. The results are underwhelming. They may even cancel each other out.

 

[anemic]

haha Frankensplash I love the name!

GSB (67) 1957 Tech
DFS today with my 3 pass method!

My previous longest run was GSB (52 or 53) so this personal record run continues to amaze me. The asterisk for this run is the blade nicked me regularly for most of it's early life - but the shave was always good so I waited it out for the glassy smooth nick-free phase which didn't seem to kick in much before 40! Seems like this blade continues to deliver an easy and comfortable DFS most every day so I wonder if I might make it to 100. Quite excited to see. For a long time I swapped the edge daily in my Super Speed which is easy. Now I'm using the Tech which is still easy but I just rinse it, dry it then loosen the threads for tomorrow. Maybe weekly I'll give a "teardown" with an edge swap.

 

[Spock88]

Have to say, I am intrigued by getting the maximum use out of a blade. Usually I give it a week at the most, with few exceptions.

However, I’m going to try this so I can improve my technique and see how long I can stretch a blade. Also, I am signed up for the 2019 sabbatical so it will help me use what I have (about 130 few various blades total).

Currently, I am using the following:

Razor: Rockwell 6s R4
Blade: Gillette Super Thin - 7 shaves.
Lather: Tabac stick
Brush: Omega 10065, first time use

My shave this morning was good, no irritation but not a complete BBS. I feel my technique needs to improve around the jaw and neck area.

Welcome to the Excalibur club SamB08! I started trying this out even though I was just learning how to DE shave. It's been a great learning experience and the nice thing is that using the blade more allowed it to smooth out so that even making mistakes I was less likely to cut myself. Definitely helps with the technique improvement.

 

[Spock88]

Shave # 10

Razor: Merkur 23C
Blade: Ying Jili
Preshave: Neutrogena Skin clearing Shave cream
Lather: Arko Shave stick
Brush: Everready C40 brush
Postshave: Pacific Shaving Company Caffeinated aftershave

Good shave but I did feel a bit of a burn in several areas once I was done. Blade is still going strong and smooth though I might have put too much pressure in some areas. Thank god the blade is not super sharp as when I started! I definitely would have ended up with bleeders. As it were I just got one really tiny cut which closed up quickly.

 

[SAMB08]

Thanks @Spock88.

Out of curiosity, do folks stick with one blade until it’s tossed out? Or do they switch blades but keep track of the number of shaves for each blade being used?

Thanks

 

[Runnin_Ute]

Number 29 this morning on an Astra SP. I'll take it through Friday then probably toss it. A fair amount of irritation today.

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[Saltchuck]

Thanks @Spock88.

Out of curiosity, do folks stick with one blade until it’s tossed out? Or do they switch blades but keep track of the number of shaves for each blade being used?

Thanks

Yes.

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[Spock88]

Thanks @Spock88.

Out of curiosity, do folks stick with one blade until it’s tossed out? Or do they switch blades but keep track of the number of shaves for each blade being used?

Thanks

I've seen people do both. I use one blade until it's tossed out but I have seen others switch them to different razors and come back to them at a later time.